Last week we looked at the relational tithe and the legal tithe, the idea of relational giving and transactional giving.
Transactional giving says, “If I do X, God must do Y in return, therefore I am blessed.”
Relational giving says: “I am so grateful for what God has already done for me, I will sacrificially give to see others blessed and the Kingdom grow.”
Today will discover, the heart of the believer is a generous one.
The Generous Heart
A lot of people who tell me that tithing is no longer required of us forget to mention this: everything we have comes from God! He doesn’t want 10% believers but 100% commitment.
Planned Generosity:
1 Corinthians 16:1-2: Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
- Why were they to do this on the first day of the week? Probably because that was pay day!
- Set aside a sum of money. This is planned and disciplined. It means that they are not going to spend this on themselves.
- In keeping with your income. Please listen to this carefully. Our giving should be in proportion to our income, not our expenditure. The issue here is not one of 10% (although I think this is a great bench mark). The real issue is that we do not spend it all or live beyond our income.
Many people give in relation to their expenditure. That is not generous. That is placing the work of God last. That’s not seeking the Kingdom.
Incremental Generosity:
Many who tell me that the tithe is old news actually don’t want to be generous. We need to understand that money is to have no hold on us.
To be generous and sacrificial in giving Christians think it has to be random, spontaneous and out of a compulsion.
Friends, generous and sacrificial giving comes from stewardship - having a budget, having a handle on finances, so that when a need comes we can meet it.
Note: stewardship is not asking where all the money went but telling the money where to go!
Start somewhere. It may be at 1% of your income. It may be at more. It may be that God is speaking to you right now at increasing your giving.
The Christlike Giver
Christlike giving is a work of grace within us. God always touches and owns a heart before He owns a wallet or purse. Here are some characteristics of Christian giving.
Give with the right motive
Much of today’s prosperity teaching is based on getting you to be rich. It is based on selfishness for we give to get. When we seek material gain we are still trusting on our own strength and security.
In contrast, Christlike giving gives because it is a work of grace in our lives:
2 Corinthians 8:7: But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
The primary motive of a Christian giver is to give everything to God, to honour the Father because he or she desire to be generous like God.
This type of giving is something God plants in our hearts as we surrender to Him.
Give Generously
2 Corinthians 9:6-7: Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
God loves generous givers who understand the law of sowing and reaping. That does’t mean that we give to get. God can give us blessings that are tangible and intangible, financial or non-financial.
The idea of prosperity in the Bible was not one attached to wealth but one attached to God making your paths, your life journey, straight (Psalm 37: 3-6).
In John 12:1-8 Mary takes a jar of nard (a rich perfume) and washes Jesus’ feet with it. It was generous and extravagant.
Jesus didn’t refuse the gift but two things can be noticed here:
- Generosity is criticised. Judas stated the truth when he said it cost a year’s wages, but he only focused on the material value.
- Generosity brings honour to the generous - “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”. She was stewarding what God intended for her. Jesus accepts it.
- Give Thoughtfully and Prayerfully
2 Corinthians 9:7: Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give.
Giving is a deliberate decision based on prayer and planning.
Christlike givers think about it, pray about it, discuss it with their spouse if they are married, and take their giving seriously.
Impulsive giving is immature giving. We don’t give because we feel moved emotionally or because some preacher manipulates you! You give because God has spoken to your heart, you’ve planned it and then it is done methodically.
Giving is a skill! It is something that we learn to do. We need to practice it to get better at it.
- Give Willingly
2 Corinthians 7:9b: not reluctantly…
We should never give out of guilt or duress. We should not ‘grin and bear it.’
You may come across TV evangelists who make appeals like, “If we don’t get your gift, we’re going under this week!” That’s manipulative.
You will need to make a decision on how much you are going to give. I believe that the bench mark is 10% and that to the generous heart that would be fine. Some of us have a capacity to give more than that. Some don’t due to the reasons outlined earlier. All of us are required to give though!
Sometimes I have to pray that God will help my unbelief. I have to ask Him to help me be willing to give. I guess for many of us our default position is to keep what we have!
- Give Cheerfully
This is the most important characteristic of all.
2 Corinthians 9:7c: God loves a cheerful giver.
The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros; we get the English word hilarious from this.
You may have been here today, watching online, or reading blog notes online, and thinking, “You’re having a laugh!”
The truth is giving is a joy and not a burden when we have planned it, decided upon it and do it as an act of worship.
Happy people are giving people and giving people are happy people (Acts 20:35).
Wrapping this up:
The tithe is still valid today, but out of a relationship with God, not out of legal duty.
Jesus as a priest in the order of Melchizedek is worthy of our free will tithe.
The New Testament is focusses on planned and generous giving. Each of us should plan to give more than we currently do!
Everything we have comes from God and therefore everything we have is His. He can ask it of us at anytime!
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